Buffer for water closet seat covers



July 26, 1949 J. J. JURINAK BUFFER FOR WATER CLOSET SEAT COVERS FiledMay 20, 1948 1N VEN TOR. dost-PH JUR/NAK ATTQR/YEY Patented July 26,1949 ED ems arrears climate Fontvnrea ctoslzrsalmooysns Joseph J.Jurinak, strpng yille Application May 20, 1948;, Serial N0.

1 :Qlaiin. 01. 4 2518) This invention relates to buffers andparticularly to buffers for water closet seat covers.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a seat cover buiferfor a water closet that can be mounted in place without requiring theuse of any tools.

Another object is to provide a seat cover buffer for a Watercloset thatcan be mounted on or removed from any Water closet without defacing thedevice or the water closet.

Still another object is to provide a device of the type stated that isboth low in cost and well adapted to the use intended.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from areading of the following specification and clai mtogether with the accompanying drawing in which like parts are referred to and indicated bylike reference characters and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the assembled buiier in its flatcondition;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the buffer in its shaped condition;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a portion of a conventional watercloset showing the buffer mounted on the water tank; and

Figure 5 is an end view of the same, partly in section, showing the seatcover in alternate open and closed positions.

A seat cover bufier made in accordance with this invention is shown inthe Figure 1. The bufiet comprises a body member, broadly indicated bythe reference character It and a bumper member indicated by thereference character iii.

The body ill is stamped or otherwise cut from a single piece of sheetmaterial that embodies strength with flexibility such as light gaugegalvanized sheet iron. The body is cut in the shape of a ladder havingside rails [2 connected by spaced and parallel rungs l3. The side railshave the contour of a series of connected and inwardly facing Vs. Theopposing legs of the V's of each rail being connectedat their endsthrough the rungs I3 and M.

The body is bent sharply at the second rung from the bottom when viewedas shown in the Figures 1, 2 and 3. As a result the terminal rung M iseccentrically displaced at an angle of approximately i5 from the planeof the balance of the body as shown in the Figures 1 and The terminalrung I6 is bent upon itself to form an axle for the hereinafterdescribed bumper member 28. The terminal rung M is split at its centerpoint as shown in Figure 1 sari Reference character 29 indicates acylindrical bumper member. The bumper 20 is made of any suitableresilient material, such as soft rubber and has an axial bore 2!. Thebumper is rotatably mounted on the axle-like terminal rung it byspringing the two halves of the rung apart at the split I5, after whichthe two halves are again aligned inside the bumper bore 21 as shown inthe Figures 1 and 2. i

The Figures 4 and 5 show the bufier mounted on a conventional watercloset having a water tank 38, a tank lid 3|, a seat 33 and a seat coverit.

The upper portion of the body member is shaped into a concave hanger orhook it as shown in the Figure 3. The buffer is positioned against thefront wall 32 of the tank 3b with the hanger it seated on the top edgeof the tank as shown in the Figures 4 and 5.

When the buiTer I0 is suspended from the tank edge in this manner thebumper 2B is normally spaced from'the front wall 3! by the eccentricallypositioned terminal rung Hi. The tank lid 3! rests on the hanger I6 andanchors the buffer in place.

When the seat cover 34 is raised to the position indicated by thereference character eta in the Figure 5 its top surface 35 strikesagainst the bumper 2t and the terminal rung supporting rails are flexed.under the force of the blow to move the terminal rung i l toward thefront wall 32 of the tank until the bumper 20 comes intocontact with thetank wall 32 as indicated by the reference characters Ida and 28arespectively in the Figure 5. The energy used to flex the terminal railsand to slightly compress the resilient rubber bumper cushions the blow,so that the seat cover is brought to a gentle stop against the bumper2R.

Since the bumper 2!] is free to rotate on the rung Hi, all contactbetween the bumper and the seat cover is accompanied by a rollingaction. Therefore there is no scufiing or marring of the seat cover bythe bumper no matter how many times the buifing cycle may be repeated.

As can be readily understood from the foregoing, the device can beeasily and quickly mounted on or removed from any water closet withoutthe use of tools and without impairing the appearance of the water tankor seat cover.

It will now be clear that there is provided a device which accomplishesthe objectives her tofore set forth. While the invention has beendisclosed in its preferred form, it is to be understood that thespecific embodiment thereof as rung, the said bumper member beingengageable with the opposing surfaces of the aforesaid seat cover andwater tank when the seat cover is in its raised condition.

JOSEPH J. JURINAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the 7 fileof this patent:'

tanl: and an eccentrically positioned terminal rung portion flexiblysupported at the lower end thereof, the said terminal rung being, bentupon itself to form an axle and a cylindrical resilient bumper memberrotatably mounted on the said axle and normally held in spaced relationwith the aforesaid water tank by the said terminal UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber Name Date 930,105 Terrell Aug. 3, 1909 1,599,475 Kozminski Sept.14, 1926 1,614,845 Mobley Jan. 18, 1927 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country IDate Great Britain Dec. 29, 1932

